Mark Totten, Jennie Hill win seats on Kalamazoo school board

KALAMAZOO — Voters on Tuesday picked Mark Totten and Jennie Hill as the two newest members of the Kalamazoo Public Schools Board of Education.

The two were the top vote-getters in a field of five candidates, none of them incumbents. They will each serve four-year terms, filling the seats being vacated by Eric Breisach and Liz Henderson, neither of whom sought re-election.

Totten, 37, a Kalamazoo Central High School graduate who went to Yale Law School, lives in Kalamazoo and works as a law professor at Michigan State University. He has two children in preschool.

With deep cuts in state funding proposed for K-12 education, he said it’s an important time to serve in a leadership role in a school system.

Jennie Hill

“I want to be a part of seeing this community coming together to step in where Lansing is taking away and not let the decisions made in Lansing be the last word relative to the future our kids face,” he said.

Kalamazoo is in a “critical moment” not only because of the likelihood of dwindling state support but also in ensuring that students can make the most of The Promise scholarship. Totten said he grew up in a single-parent home and knows how education can make a difference for those living on the margin.

“The jury is still out as to whether this program is going to make it a little bit easier for kids who would otherwise succeed or if it’s really going to change the future of those kids who need it the most,” Totten said of the scholarship program. “It depends upon what we do with this moment in time.”

From his seat on the board, he’ll push for a deliberate, organized program bringing together various aspects of the Kalamazoo community — government, business, nonprofits, for instance — all working toward measurable gains in student achievement.

“We have to think cradle to career,” he said.

Hill, 49, is a Borgess Medical Center nurse and mother of two Loy Norrix High School graduates and a current Norrix student.

She has a long history of volunteering in her children’s schools and serving on districtwide committees.

Hill said serving on the school board is the logical next step for her. Her top priority is closing the achievement gap between middle-class and low-income children.

“I see at-risk children struggling to take advantage of The Promise and struggling with life after high school in general,” Hill said, adding that KPS needs to focus on early childhood education and literacy as keys to academic success.

She envisions more programs — career days, apprenticeship opportunities, partnerships with nonprofit organizations — to help show students how to make the most of The Promise.

“I like the way KPS is rolling,” Hill said. “I’ve seen lots of changes over the years and positive changes, and I want to be there to help with the positive changes, to keep it going.”